Bethlehem Star March 2009

The Bethlehem Star
Volume 8, Issue 3 March 2009
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Midweek Learning and Worship

To aid us in renewal and learning during Lent there will be a mid-week opportunity for gathering on Wednesdays beginning March 4 at Bethle¬hem. The schedule for each Wednesday is as follows:

Soup Supper 6:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Soup and sandwiches will be served as people arrive, until 6:30. Each week a free-will offering will be received at the supper.

Worship and Learning 7:00 p.m.
The Prayer Jesus Taught
In worship, music, teaching, and other activities we will have activities and sensory experiences, we will learn about the Lord’s Prayer. Each week we will consider one or two petitions of this powerful prayer that connects us to God and to others. During Lent and Easter we will try to learn the ecumenical text (new version) of the Lord’s Prayer. Weekly topics for the midweek worship and learning are:

March 4 Honoring God
March 11 Doing God’s Will
March 18 Recognizing God’s Abundance
March 25 A Forgiving Spirit
April 1 Keeping Safe

Men’s Breakfast
Sunday, March 22

The men of the church are cooking breakfast for everyone and it will be served following worship on Sunday, March 22. A sign up sheet is posted on the bulletin board for workers and food donations.



Special Congregational Meeting
Sunday, March 22
Following Worship

• Vote on a proposal for new doors, trim and flooring for basement dining room
• Vote on a proposal to request from Wartburg Seminary to be an internship site for the 2009-10 school year

See articles below for details


Additional Dining Room Renovation

The wall repair and painting in the basement was accomplished with the 2008-2009 grant for capital improvements from the Endowment budget. The proposal, which will be finalized at the March Council meeting, will be to provide hardwood doors and trim, and appropriate flooring that can cover the existing tile (and not be affected by inevitable moisture that could happen in extremely wet times).

Wartburg Seminary Seeks Internship Site

On February 27, Wartburg Seminary asked Bethle-hem and Saint Mark congregations to again con-sider the possibility of being an internship site. Several students in the upcoming class of interns have valid restrictions on their assignment to the Dubuque area. At the time of the newsletter print-ing, the Congregation Councils had not even had a chance to consider this request. If the Council agrees to this request, they will present a proposal at the special meeting.

Details of both proposals will be available on Sun-day, March 15. If you cannot be present on March 15, call the office to have information sent to you or make arrangements to receive them.

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Don’t forget to check out our website http://bethlehem.mylutheran.org. Pass it on to family members or friends. Miss worship and you can listen to Sunday’s sermon. Misplace your newsletter and it is there.

Pastoral Pondering
See Pastor's message on Bethlehem Homepage



March Birthdays

2 Marcia Kleinsmith, Darlene Christiansen
5 Laurie Rickels
6 Darrel Hicks, Joan Kleppe
7 Lary Becker
14 Barb Small, Rachel Thiede
14 Miranda Rickels
15 Gala Alden
17 Chris Snyder
20 Jessie Paarmann
21 Bill Pithan, McKenna Doll
22 Matt Gerdes
25 Cody Current
26 Tara Nissen
27 Coy Petersen
29 Tyler Mullins

March Anniversaries

12 Jody and Jim Holtz
16 Dawn Suthers and Clay Ketchum

Former Intern Paul Assigned to Florida

Our former intern Paul Amlin has been assigned to the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the ELCA. On February 18, representatives of the 9 regions and the 8 seminaries of the ELCA met in Chicago for an event, unofficially nicknamed “the draft.” At that meeting, all seminarians expecting to graduate in May, and who were approved for ordination by their synod’s candidacy committee, were assigned to re-gions. Paul was assigned to region 9. The 6 bi-shops a few days later in the region assigned Paul to his home Florida-Bahamas Synod.

Faith Formation Task Force

Ten members met in February to begin dreaming and visioning around the question, “How will our children have faith?” in light of dwindling Sunday school students. 4 subgroups will tackle questions and issues around 1) a Sunday morning playgroup for toddlers and pre-schoolers, 2) periodic activities for families with small children, 3) a way to survey parents in the congregation and community about desires for faith formative activities, and 4) an after-school program.

Worship in Lent

Lent is a time a reflection, repentance and renewal. We begin worship each week with a time of corporate confession and forgiveness. So that the transition between conversation and confession is not so abrupt, an acolyte will ring a bell a few minutes before the start of worship. At the sound of the bell, the assembly can begin ending conversations and begin preparing for worship.

Council News

Bethlehem Council met for its regular meeting on February 17. In business they:

• Appointed Lynda Humphreys to be delegate to LNE Telephone Company meeting
• Deferred appointed a temporary Financial Secretary until the March 10 meeting. If members have suggestions, they should pass those ideas a Council member or Pastor. (Pauline Schoop will be out of town for several weeks this spring.)
• Are seeking one or two persons interested in being delegates to the Ewalu Annual Meeting March 21 at Ewalu, Strawberry Point.
• Set March 22 for a congregational meeting to vote on plans for further renovation of basement dining room (see article on page 1.)
• Heard the following Treasurer’s reports:
General Farm
Balance 12/31/08 402.83 20,352.68
Income for Jan 10,069.75 28,056.00
Expenses for Jan 7,633.86 10,000.00*
Balance 1/31/09 2,838.70 38,408.68

*$10,000.00 was withdrawn from Farm Check-ing and placed in a CD

Worship Assistants

Greeters: John Alden, Ron Christiansen
Ushers: Enos Ihns, Joan Kleppe
Lectors:
1- Teryn Crist
8- Lynda Humphreys
15- Deanne Bennett
22- Eleanor Sheldon
29- Pat Hendrickson

Communion Servers:
1- Connie Kleppe, Jone Paarmann
15- Ellen Pithan, Tim Thiede
Acolytes:
1- Dylan Rickels
8- Emily Horst
15- Jo Thiede
22- Samantha Adler
29- Cassie Suthers

Altar Care: Rochelle Busch, Madge White
Bread Maker: Jone Paarmann
Tellers: Brent and Jessica Ihns
Fellowship Servers:
1- Jone Paarmann, Evelyn Petersen, Kindy Nis-sen, Melissa McChesney
8- Ellen Pithan, Shelley Beeck, Betty Rehmke
15- Eleanor Sheldon, Jody Holtz, Kelly Doll
22- Men’s Breakfast
29- Senior/Senior Coffee Eve Hostess

Need Help with Spring Cleanup

Are you, or do you know someone looking for some help around the house/yard this spring? Bethlehem youth are here to help! The forming LYO (Lutheran Youth Organization – once upon a time known as Luther League) is looking to assist this year. If you are interested, please contact Clay Ketchum or Pas-tor Keith to make arrangements.

Listen on WMT radio
600 am
Sundays
9:30 p.m.


Bethlehem Lutheran is sponsoring the program on Sundays March 8, 15, 22, and 29


March 2009
Pastor Keith Larson
Office Phone 678-2301
Home Phone 678-2303
E-mail keith.larson@ecunet.org
or pastor@bethlehem.mylutheran.org

Pastoral Associate Barb Tobiason
Office Phone 826-2761
Home Phone 319-465-3124
AIM@bethlehem.mylutheran.org


Office Secretary Deanne Bennett
Church Phone 678-2301
secretary@bethlehem.mylutheran.org

Parish Nurse Carm Schneider
Office Hours 9:00 a.m. -10:30 a.m. Tues
Phone 678-2302

http://bethlehem.mylutheran.org


Sunday Schedule

Worship 9:00 a.m.
Sunday School/ Fellowship 10:00 a.m.


Office Hours

Pastor Keith is in the office most mornings
Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – Noon
and Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
If you need to enter the church and do not have a key, always call ahead to be certain he or someone is here.

BWELCA Hilites

Quilting: The community women are enjoying a great quilting year. The weather has been co-operative so we are all able to be out. The EWALU quilt has been completed and we have one senior quilt to go. The ladies are going to treat themselves to lunch at Marlee's on Monday, March 9 at 11:00a.m. If you have helped with the quilting project in ANY way, please join us on the 9. Our last quilting day will be March 30. Stop by and join us for lunch and stay for a “stitch or two”. Hours: 8:30-3:30pm.

Layettes: We will be packing layettes for shipping on Wednesday, March 4 and March 11 at 5:30 p.m. The confirmation class will be helping with this project. We need a few BWELCA women to come and help us with packing. Also could use a couple of men to tape the boxes for us. Diapers, diaper pins, washcloths and bars of Ivory soap may still be brought in. A soup/ sandwich lunch and Lenten services to follow. Hope to see you all there!

Cheer Brunch: We want to extend a big “Thank You” to the Bethlehem Circle for serving a delicious brunch and to Deanne Bennett for an enjoyable program. The ladies/guests enjoyed Deanne's Tri-ennial highlights and also the Women of the ELCA video showing many of the projects our women participate in. Anyone wishing to see the video can find it in the conference room in one of the boxes. 21 cookie plates were assembled and all have been delivered.

World Day of Prayer: The women of the community (Catholic- Lutheran-Presbyterian) will be joining together at Bethlehem on Friday, March 6 at 1:30 p.m. for World Day of Prayer. We will be joining the women of Papua New Guinea in this day of prayer. They are a land of many languages, cultures,
traditions and beliefs. The theme for this years worship is “In Christ, there are many members, yet one body. World Day of Prayer’s motto, “Informed prayer leads to powerful action,” affirms that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence. Come join us in prayer. Invite a friend.! Refreshments will be served follow-ing the service.

Friendship Party: Approximately 75 adults and children attended our annual Friendship party. We enjoyed a delicious lasagna dinner and an array of beautiful desserts. Thank you to the committee for another job well done!
Spring Bazaar: Diana Ihns and Ellen Pithan will be co-chairing our Bazaar again this year. Watch for the sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in the narthex.
Spring Gathering to be held at St. Matthews in Monticello-date to be yet determined.
Mid-Week Lenten Soup/Sandwich Serving List:
Mar 4 Bethlehem Circle
Mar 11 Eve Circle
Mar 18 Rebecca Circle
Mar 25 Confirmation class
Apr 1 Council
Upcoming Events:
BWELCA Board Meeting Monday, March 2 at 6 PM.
Bible Study Leaders Tuesday March 3 at 5 p.m.
Senior/Senior coffee - Sunday, March 29 - Hostess Eve Circle